Compilation and artwork by ridleybradoutAdditional remastering by JWBNovember 2017

FAN-MADE PROJECT - NOT FOR SALE

*Share freely but do not distribute as mp3*

Riot Act was written and recorded in the shadow of much pain and struggle - the Roskilde tragedy, a marriage break-up, 9/11, and the reality that the Oval Office was occupied by a Bush once again.

Eddie Vedder had spent much of 2001 on sabbatical on a remote Hawaiian Island, where he started collaborating with a local he met - one Kenneth 'Boom' Gasper. The very first day of this partnership produced 'Love Boat Captain', a reflection on Roskilde that would become Riot Act's emotional centrepiece, and the first time that someone outside of the band received a songwriting credit on a Pearl Jam album.

Pearl Jam reconvened in October 2001 for the Bridge School Benefit, where they debuted two new songs: 'I Am Mine', which Ed had written the previous year in Virginia Beach before the band's first post-Roskilde show; and the Mike McCready song 'Last Soldier', the performance of which is featured in this collection (as the studio attempt has yet to see the light of day).

With a new producer at the helm (Adam Kasper, who had previously worked with Matt Cameron on Soundgarden and Wellwater Conspiracy albums), Pearl Jam hit the studio in February 2002. The recording of Riot Act was a thoroughly collaborative affair. Following the process established with Yield and Binaural, all band members were expected to bring in 4-5 individually worked-up song ideas (some of which are featured on Disc 2 of this Deluxe edition). The relaxed atmosphere created by Kasper helped the band complete a lot of material in a short amount of time. Some of the songs didn't change much from their original demo form, such as 'Thumbing My Way', which was signed-off after only a few takes, with the band keen to capture the songs in their purest form before they became "all cerebral". Others like Cameron's 'You Are' came in as simply an experimental idea (in this case using a guitar riff fed through drum machine), that needed some band workshopping to form into a coherent song.

The band worked up over 30 songs during the Riot Act sessions, at least 10 of which are still locked in the vault (the most of any Pearl Jam album session). Known song titles include 'April Bear', 'Code Red', 'Meteorologist', 'Searchlight' and 'Better Days' (which may or may not be the same song Vedder later recorded for the 'Eat Pray Love' soundtrack). Other songs that originated from Vedder's ukulele demo tape (from which 'Can't Keep' was eagerly plucked by the band) such as 'Goodbye', 'Satellite' and 'Longing to Belong' would later end up on his 'Ukulele Songs' solo album.

The three B-Sides that were released from the Riot Act sessions kick-off Disc 2, along with the Layne Staley tribute '4/20/02' - written in the studio the day Eddie found out that Layne had died of a heroin overdose. The 'Live at Chop Suey' session that Pearl Jam recorded for promotional videos prior to the album's release is presented here in full for the first time. The disc is rounded out with the three available pre-session demos, and the 'Lost Dogs' versions of 'Down' and 'Undone' that were remixed for that release by live-mixing extraordinaire Brett Eliason.

**As per the other Deluxe Editions I've put together, this set will be updated should any new recordings surface. Please contact me (ridleybradout AT hotmail.com) should you come across anything new from the Riot Act sessions.